


Advices

by sweeetbabe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Harry being a good father, Harry gives loving advice to James, Yule Ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28906416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweeetbabe/pseuds/sweeetbabe
Summary: James Sirius makes an urgent call with his father; he needs loving advice.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Sirius Potter/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Advices

**Author's Note:**

> someone had asked me on tumblr to write about James asking Harry for loving advice during his Yule Ball, and inspired by @startanewdream fics, I wrote this :)

‘‘Dad! ’’ James sighed as if he had been guarding the air for hours, looking relieved to see his father in the mirror. ‘’I’ve been calling you for _hours_!’’

‘’James, not a minute ago.’’ Harry laughed, albeit a little worried. James barely wrote letters that were more than 10 centimeters, something terrible must have happened for him to use the mirror. ''Did something happen?''

‘’Something horrible!’’ His son sighed, his brown eyes looking alarmed. ‘’Can you meet me at Hogsmeade? I don’t want to talk about it in the mirror.’’

‘’James, is it really terrible? Something about Lily? With Albus? Did anyone threaten you?!’’ Harry was already on his feet, ready to Apparate near Hogwarts and protect his children like a dragon mother.

‘’We’re all fine… well, I heard Albus was caught out of bed, but nothing much.’’ The son shrugged. ‘’So, are you coming? I know it's not exactly the date yet, but I need to see you. Alone.''

''Oh Jamie… what did you get into?'' Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes and trying to imagine what could be that time.. The last one was when he and his friends were caught in the Forbidden Forest taking care of a phoenix, then there was that one when he fought with a Ravenclaw after hearing that Greg was speaking ill of Albus… James was a good boy, and very intelligent for his own safety, but sometimes, Harry felt that he had inherited much of the Weasley blood.

‘’Dad, I just need your help.’’ His son asked, looking calmer now, his voice lower, and his shoulders relaxed, and if Harry didn’t know him, he would say he looked almost miserable.

‘’Alright… I’ll go.’’

* * *

The next day, Harry had entered McGonagall's office and asked him and James to leave the school quickly for lunch, for a private conversation. Needless to say, the principal looked at the ex-student as if he was still 15 years old and was hiding that, in fact, he was going to fight in the Ministry.

‘’Thanks for coming,’’ The boy said, following Harry through Hogsmeade, not unlike the James they had left on the platform a few months ago. ‘’I thought you couldn’t get me out of there… But you’re _Harry Potter_ , of course you can.’’

‘’James, don’t try to win my heart.’’ He warned him, even though he wanted to laugh. ‘’We can’t always do this, so I really hope this is important.’’

‘’It’s important!’’ The two entered the Three Broomsticks, walking over to the back table that Harry had reserved for them. Some teachers and visitors stared at them, as always, but as soon as they sat down, Harry surrounded them with a muffling charm, thinking that maybe James didn't want his problem to come out in tomorrow's Daily Prophet.

‘’What happened then?’’ The son twisted a little ashamed, which was unusual for that extroverted boy who spoke at the elbows and was so articulate that Harry sometimes wondered if it was really his son. 

‘’How did you invite mom to the Yule Ball?’’ Oh… Harry realized then, what was the urgency. He sighed, thinking that while he wanted to laugh, he wanted to hug his son, a little desperate that James was old enough to ask girls out, and that he was still coming to ask his father for help.

‘’Hm… I didn’t invite her, actually.’’ Harry grimaced, remembering his 14 year old self who was much more insecure, morose and introverted. But James also reminded him very much of himself, even though a year older, his son had been in a bad mood for the past few months - fortunately, not because he was being tortured and being discredited after seeing a colleague die. James was just a teenager.

''Not?! She who invited you?’’

‘’Actually… we didn’t go together.’’ His son’s face seemed to fall with the news, and Harry took advantage of the shock to wave to the waitress, ordering two beers. ‘’I went with another girl, and she went with Neville.’’

‘’What’s your problem? Why didn’t you invite mommy? Or, okay, I get it, you were afraid to invite her and she would say no.'' James looked hopeful, which Harry thought was a little strange, since his kids knew their parents hadn't fallen in love since the first time they if they saw each other, or anything like that they saw in Muggle films.

‘’Well… I didn’t like her. Not like that, at least. I liked another girl, and your mom still couldn't get close to me without blushing or stuttering, so…’’ Harry shrugged. ‘’Thank you.’’ He smiled at the waitress, who broke into their protection circle and placed the beers in front of each other.

‘’So, did you invite her?’’ James asked as soon as the woman left. ‘’You liked her.’’

‘’I invited, but she already had another partner.’’ Harry shrugged, laughing at the memory of him being a fool and asking Cho out.

‘’Oh…’’ Then James cringed, as he did a few times when he was upset, looking at the glass in front of him and seeming to think about several things at once. ‘’So… did you call another girl?’’

‘’Hm, yes… Why?’’

''How did you do it? I mean .. call another girl, even if you liked the other one?’’

‘’We were like friends.’’ Harry shrugged, a little awkward to deal with the situation, realizing that his son’s problem was not just the shame of inviting someone to the ball. ‘’Well, at least I saw her only as a friend… Why? Anyone in particular?’’

‘’There’s this girl…’’ James still didn’t look at his father, his cheeks slightly flushed. ‘’I… I like her, and we are… we get to know each other,’’ Harry thought it looked like much more than just two acquaintances, but he wouldn’t disturb his son. ''But when I went to invite her, she had already agreed to go with another guy... I mean, I took too long and I think she thought I was inviting her because I had no choice.'' James ran his hand over his face, looking almost in pain. Harry's heart sank into his chest. ‘’I was late because I wanted to be nice when I called her, I even bought chocolates.’’ The boy laid his face on the table, looking totally miserable now.

‘’James…’’

‘’I was an idiot, that's what.’’ He said, his voice muffled against the wood. ‘’I should have known that a girl like her didn’t have all the time in the world to wait for my good will.’’

‘’Why don’t you tell her that?’’ Harry tried, trying hard not to actually get up and hug his son.

‘’And humiliate me even more? No thanks.’’ James raised his head from the table, but kept looking down, his hands running nervously through his hair.

‘’You can call a friend.’’ Harry thought of Mira, James’s friend that he had great affection for. But maybe it was because the girl was just too kind and smart, and she always seemed to be ready to keep James from being expelled - besides she was the one who took the phoenix to Hogwarts and spent almost a year trying to tame the bird.

‘’Yeah… maybe I’ll call Rosalia.’’ James looked at him, and Harry almost let on his disappointment.

‘’Just be kind and don’t charge yourself too much... Ask to speak to her alone, in case she is surrounded by friends.. ’’

‘’..They always are.’’

‘’..And invite her. But don’t let her think that she’s your last option, no one likes that.’’

‘’Ok.’’ His son didn’t look very happy, but he nodded. ''Thanks.''

‘’James… I’m sure you’ll find another time to ask this girl out, and then you can try to have something, or just decide to be colleagues. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll know how to handle the situation.’’

**| DURING THE YULE BALL… |**

As the songs went on, his excitement seemed to increase to the point where his cheeks and throat hurt from laughing and singing, so when Mira pulled him to get a buttered beer, he let himself go, accompanying her through the sea of people like a fool in love that he was.

''They're good.'' James talked about the famous band that played, leaning on the wall next to the table and crossing his legs, he didn't even know where he left his cape anymore and he didn't mind being wearing only his black vest and the shirt. He swallowed a good amount of beer before noticing that Mira was staring at him. ''What's it?''

‘’Nothing, just thinking you’re a great party buddy’’ She shrugged and also took the drink, oblivious to the fact that his chest ached with anticipation ‘’It’s hot here, don’t you think? I'm sweating.’’ Her cheeks were flushed and red was running dangerously down her long neck, where James did not want to venture out, knowing his weaknesses.

‘’Do you want to go outside?’’ He nodded towards the gardens.

‘’Nah, I still want to hear them play Wicked Game.’’ He nodded, wanting to be where she was. ‘’I was really abandoned at my first dance,’’ Mira seemed to speak more to herself than to James, so he just remained silent, looking at her curiously. ''Is weird.''

‘‘Don’t be dramatic, I’m here.’’ The blonde laughed nasally and looked at him, eyebrow raised as she approached and leaned next to his, very close.

‘’You’re not my date.’’ He shrugged and drank his beer, wanting to tell her that he wanted her to go.

‘‘Pretend I am. ’’ Her black eyes looked at him as if he said there was a dead body in his room.

‘’You already have one.’’ Mira reminded him, and his laugh came out without any humor, and he wouldn’t doubt that his face was twisted in a frown.

‘’Who kissed me thinking of another.’’ At the same time he regretted having verbalized, denying and messing up his hair ‘‘Forget it. Do you want to go dancing?’’

‘’Did she do that?’’ Of all he wanted, Mira’s pitying look wasn’t one of them.

‘’Don’t look at me like that Hazel, I’m not a fucking child who fell down the stairs.’’ Admitting that he was upset wasn’t in his plans, it never was, so she couldn’t expect the opposite from him now. Besides, he had also thought of Mira when he kissed Rosalia, so he was not a complete saint.

''It's not me you're mad at, besides, I can't pretend I'm not furious.'' James almost lost his eyes to face his friend, who left her mug on the table and crossed her arms over her chest, looking over their heads, or at least those she could manage.

''Furious?''

‘’Yeah, how could she do that? I understand she is still getting over the breakup with Nicholas, now, do this to you? No, no, this is playing dirty. Why the hell weren't you honest and.. ’’

‘’..Mira, you don’t need to pick up my fights for you,’’ James took her arm, getting too close for his own sanity ‘’I'm fine, okay? It was nothing.''

‘’This is so stupid James, I don’t believe it.’’ Merlim would help him not to shut that girl up with a kiss. _Now_ he wanted to kiss.

Before he did anything stupid, he decided to do something worse, when he noticed that a bewitched mistletoe grew on top of them, as Michael had said that happened whenever a couple was very close at the ball. And before his conscience shut him up, he let his impulsive part take over;

‘’Oh ... you know the tradition, right?’’ It didn’t give him even a second to want to undo the stupid phrase, wanting to punch himself.

Mira's eyes widened and her cheeks were almost the color of her lipstick, looking shocked by what her friend had said, hardening in his hand and momentarily looking like a statue.

‘’Hm… ’’

‘’..It’s a joke.’’ And as if the world was trying to fix its shit, Ghost Tears announced that they would sing the song they had been waiting for all night; Wicked Game. ‘’Hey, let’s dance.’’

And without looking too much into the blonde's face, or caring about the fact that his heart was beating so fast that he wouldn't be shocked if he fell hard on the floor, he carried her into the middle of the room again and adjusted himself to dance, placing the hand on her waist as they had rehearsed. His heart trembling with their proximity, and how beautiful Mira was, even closer. He would dream for months about that blue dress and that cleavage.

‘’Shall we dance?’’ Mira asked, seeming to bite a laugh. And if James hadn't been willing to look at the band, a little embarrassed, he would see how hopeful she looked.

‘’Yes ... I mean ... if you want ..’’ He finally looked at her, staring into the big dark eyes contrasting with the pale skin.

''Yea, sure.'' Mira smiled from ear to ear, no longer seeming to care that Scott abandoned her in the middle of the ball. In fact, she looked even happier now, which made James, still happier than hours ago.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @sweeethinny and tell me what you think! :)


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